The Cape (David Lyons) doesn’t get his mask until episode two. This is the first photo of it anywhere.

This is Vinnie Jones (“X-Men: The Last Stand”) as deformed reptilian criminal Scales.

And this is James Frain (“The Tudors”) as the millionaire supervillain Chess.
The network’s official description:

"The Cape" is a one-hour drama series starring David Lyons ("ER") as Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, "Life on Mars") and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, "Flash Forward"). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes "The Cape" his son's favorite comic book superhero -- and takes the law into his own hands. Rounding out the cast are James Frain ("The Tudors") as billionaire Peter Fleming - The Cape's nemesis - who moonlights as the twisted killer: Chess; Keith David ("Death at a Funeral") as Max Malini, the ringleader of a circus gang of bank robbers who mentors Vince Faraday and trains him to be The Cape; Summer Glau ("Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") as Orwell, an investigative blogger who wages war on crime and corruption in Palm City; and Dorian Missick ("Six Degrees") as Marty Voyt, a former police detective and friend to Faraday.

AICN has also learned exclusively that:
* Mena Suvari (“American Beauty,” “Six Feet Under,” “Rumor Has It”) will grace an upcoming episode as a girl named Dice.
* Thomas Kretschmann (“King Kong,” “Wanted,” “Valkyrie”) will have a major role in an upcoming episode.
* Elliot Gould (the “Ocean’s 11” movies”) has joined the series in a recurring role.
* The great screenwriter Craig Titley (“Percy Jackson,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”) has joined the show’s writing staff and has already scripted “Kozmo,” the fourth episode that’s shooting even as you read this.
NBC should be assigning a premiere date any minute now.

I thought the guy had no special powers and was just an ordinary guy...Chess looks like ke's a reptile of some kind with those eyes...so are they now making this a superhero show?...it actually sounds good on paper

...that dosen't run away from comic book conventions as fast as it can? how the fuck did this even get greenlit? don't they know comic books are silly and you should change as much as possible from the everyday trappings of them? don't they know that everything super hero-like about super heros should be thrown out the window? especially if they are on TV. haven't they seen the matrix movies? because everything should be just like that. sunglasses and leather all the way.

Walking Dead best of 2010 before its even on TV. Now what happens if you watch through Walking Dead and it is mediocre like Rubicon. Is someone going to have to remove all the sharp objects in your home.

Some aspects of it, like that, sound pretty dumb. But overall it sounds like it has some good things going for it, and some nice, interesting casting choices (Keith David & Vinnie Jones, especially). I like how this sounds more "overt" than the tepid Heroes, where everyone spent 99% of the time looking like perfectly ordinary people.

"The Cape" looks like a bite off of "The Dark Defender" from Dexter which is obviously a bite off of Batman. Check out this image:
http://media.comicmix.com/media/2007/12/16/darkdefender300.jpg
or here with shorturl:
http://alturl.com/qitox

She may be "ratings kryptonite", but every show she's been in has been excellent.
Angel. Firefly. Terminator. Dollhouse. And hopefully The Cape.
I will now watch this show that I was otherwise uninterested in.

Yes, I thought the same. This is exactly how i think Killer Croc would appear if he were in the new Batfilm. I get the feeling he might as they're filming in New Orleans, maybe this is Tom Hardy's role?

this looks like phenomenal fun, with great ideas for superpowers for THE CAPE (I know his powers come from devices and such but theyre still powers) and cool comic book villains. That's why the project won't possibly last. Like it or not people want THE MATRIX black leather and no powers and moping NO FUN people complaiinng about EVERYTHING. It's what the Public desires.

Fuck that shit! As far as "ratings kryptonite", that's horseshit too. No secondary character was ever responsible for the death of a series. She may be under-utilized but I fail to see where she ever hurt a show. But her character description for THE CAPE tells me that once again "under-utilized" will best describe her character.

I concur about Summer. The 20,000 Nielsen boxes for some reason would rather watch the Kardashians or Jersey Shore but that doesn't mean shows that Glau are in are not real good. The people with Nielsen boxes are all rank fools. As are most of the talkbackers. FUCK YOU.

"Who gives a shit?"<p>Can you really afford to put that in your show? Fuck you, fans, you shouldn't have cared about anything and now you are screwed!<p>As for The Cape, I'm sure watching his wife and kid from across the street etc. is going to get old quickly. I hope they take the route most modern shows seem to be doing, and shake these things up early on. Like Jounrney Man did... oh, cancelled!

Shows like these always suck -- Mantis, Automan - where a group of execs who have only read coics for 1 year to try and figure out how to make money on them, suddenly think the crap like No Ordinary Family and this garbage can somehow become someone's favorite show - not when there's too many to choose from. This thing has all of the ingredients on a 4 to 6 episode flop.

shouldn't the snake skin guy have the special contacts?<BR><BR>I'll give this show a try, but we really need a more DC "perfect" superhero show for once. I'm really sick of every story being the Marvel "flawed" superhero stuff ( never thought I'd say that but it's now just trite )

thought it was looking gay but looks pretty fucking awesome from the pics alone. like frain and the mighty KEITH FUCKIN DAVIDDD in the cast. Not to mention...VINNIE JONES! Fuck ya haters, i'll give it a chance

MAN, that was a great scene! Initially, I was upset that The Cape didn't get a fall berth, but now I'm okay with it. All the crap of the first season will be burnt off by the time The Cape premieres and then just FUCKING owns us all with its ridiculous level of awesome!<P>
NOT to say, of course, that it can't be WELL fucked over by network execs. To paraphrase the classic line, it's what they do, it's all they do. But that teaser they put out at ComiCon, and now this? Truly, this is the best looking SUPERHERO series since The Flash, and THAT was the only superhero TV show I've ever seen where exactly NOTHING got toned down. Not the powers and certainly not the villains. If they truly go for broke on this one, it'll shine like gold! May not last a month, but better to go out with a fight than a whimper!

I like the idea. You may not even realize you came up with it! From now on, I propose that ANYTHING we like, or think we'll like, be described as "not THE EVENT." "I like vanilla ice cream. Therefore, vanilla ice cream is not THE EVENT." "I want to dick Zooey Daschund or however you spell her name. Therefore, Zooey De Chanel is not THE EVENT." Anything you like must automatically NOT be THE EVENT! It's brilliant. Herc, you are MOST definitely THE EVENT.

I like the idea. You may not even realize you came up with it! From now on, I propose that ANYTHING we like, or think we'll like, be described as "not THE EVENT." "I like vanilla ice cream. Therefore, vanilla ice cream is not THE EVENT." "I want to dick Zooey Daschund or however you spell her name. Therefore, Zooey D. Camel is not THE EVENT." Anything you like must automatically NOT be THE EVENT! It's brilliant. Herc, you are MOST definitely THE EVENT.